Inside China: Marine’s comment on islands draws sharp Chinese response

[Jesus Malverde]

A casual remark by a U.S. general during a breakfast has made China mad, really mad, and Beijing’s response is far less than civil and humble.

On April 11, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of the 18,000 Marines in Okinawa, Japan, told reporters at a Washington breakfast meeting that the Marines in the Pacific would quickly retake the Senkaku island group and return it to Japan if China were to invade it.

The statement was nothing new, as U.S. officials from the president on down repeatedly have told the Chinese that the United States would fulfill its defense treaty obligations to help Japan militarily in any conflict with China over the islands.

What apparently incensed the Chinese was what Gen. Wissler said next: “You wouldn’t maybe even necessarily have to put somebody on that island until you had eliminated the threat, so to speak.”

The Chinese military is supremely confident of its invincibility in the Pacific and is taking Gen. Wissler’s remark as a great insult.

The first return salvos were fired by the Communist Party-owned and operated newspaper Global Times.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/17/inside-china-marines-comments-on-island-draw-sharp/

[steve2470]

1. BBC here

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-27018206

China media: Territorial dispute

Chinese newspapers criticise a senior US commander for "siding with Japan" in a territorial dispute.

Lt Gen John Wissler, the commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force based in Japan, reportedly said that his force was capable of retaking a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea in case of an attack from "a foreign power", according to the People's Daily.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing are currently strained over a territorial row involving islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China. Japan controls the islands.

Zhu Chenghu, a professor from National Defence University, tells the Chinese edition of the Global Times that the US commander made these comments to "show support" for Washington's military allies and to "warn China against using force".

[The Magistrate]

2. Marines, Sir --- What Can You Do?